Golf Buzz

Here's a look at the "Hinotori Touch Putter" created by KRONOS Golf Founder Phillip Lapuz. It's currently on display in the British Golf Museum.

A rare putter created by U.S.-based KRONOS Golf Founder Phillip Lapuz is now on display at the British Golf Museum in St. Andrews, Scotland.

It took three months for Lapuz to design the "Hinotori Touch Putter" followed by months of polishing the rare flat-stick to perfection.

The design on the sole of the putter features the Japanese Hinotori which literally translates in English to "bird of fire," or "phoenix."

"The high relief engraving design on the Hinotori was inspired by years of traveling throughout Japan and experiencing its many wonders," Lapuz said. "In particular, the beautiful and intricate imagery that composes Byodo­in Temple in Kyoto served as a memorable symbol of my time in Kyoto. The phoenix engraving is itself a representation of those emotions, crafted out of a desire to express my fond feelings of Kyoto to others in the form of art, as well as to serve as a shining example of what golf should aspire to become."

The "Hinotori" is amongst more than 16,000 golf-related items in the collection at the British Golf Museum, known as one of the most comprehensive golf collections worldwide.

"Golfing Links Organization and the British Golf Museum both recognize and respect true golf craftsmanship and knew there wasn’t a better place to showcase the 'Hinotori' to golf enthusiasts worldwide than the home of golf, St. Andrews," said Golfing Links Organization CEO Vincent Walker.

At 6-foot-6, Matt Heuerman towers over some of his teammates in Barton Collier High School in Naples, Florida.

Today is National Signing Day, when the nation's top high school football players officially decide where they'll be playing ball in college next fall. There are always a handful of big surprises on this day every year – and one of the biggest ones today involves golf.

Down in Naples, Florida, Honorable Mention All-State tight end Matt Heuerman declared his intention to not accept a football scholarship anywhere. Instead, he said, he's decided to pursue his love of golf, and will try to play his way onto a college golf team next year.

Heuerman definitely could be playing college football in the future. At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, he caught 51 passes for 685 yards and eight touchdowns for Barron Collier High School. In addition, his older brothers also played tight end at Barron Collier and went on to solid college careers – brother Mike played at Notre Dame, while brother Jeff played for Ohio State and is now a rookie with the Denver Broncos.

Both his brothers have struggled with injuries, and Matt himself tore his ACL during his freshman season. But, he says, the fear of getting hurt isn't what made him change his career path.

"It wasn't really a fear of getting injured," Heuerman said. "I know that comes with playing the game. But I know there's a time limit on football. I can play golf as long as I want."

Heuerman, who played golf even while focusing on football in high school, has been working on his game with Lloyd Johnson, a PGA instructor at Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples who has helped several junior players get college scholarships. Johnson told the newspaper that Heuerman's inexperience is mitigated by the fact that he is so athletically talented.

"I feel that if I put in as many hours as I did into football I'll continue to improve and get one step better each day," Heuerman said. "I'm excited to see where this takes me."

An alligator on a Cancun golf course was left open-mouthed by its encounter with Minnesota Wild player Nino Niederreiter and three of his teammates.

Players around the National Hockey League are just getting back into game action after a nice, long break for the NHL All-Star Game. A foursome of players from the Minnesota Wild returned to their teammates after meeting somebody – or maybe we should say some thing – that really is wild.

Nino Niederreiter and fellow players Marco Scandella, Matt Dumba and Darcy Kuemper jetted down to Cancun, Mexico, for a golf vacation over the break. One day they were playing a course that had several signs warning golfers of the presence of alligators and, sure enough, the hockey stars ran across a decent-sized gator sunning himself on a bank of a pond.

Despite the fact that the gator was facing their way and had its mouth open, the fearless foursome eased up to within a few feet of it to snap a photo.

"It was probably three or four feet away with his mouth open the whole time looking at us," Niederreiter – who we bet never ran across a gator growing up in his native Switzerland – told The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "So we took a quick pic and got out of there."

Tiptoeing close to the gator might not have been a great idea, but getting out of there quickly definitely was. And the boys all got back to the team with all their fingers and toes still in place.

5. Ryan Moore
Best finish in 2015-16 season: T10 at the Frys.com Open and the CIMB ClassicReason to watch: After a long layoff, Moore returns this week to a place where he has not finished outside of the top 20 in the last three years. TPC Scottsdale clearly fits his eye. That's a strong recent track record that can't be overlooked.

4. Ryan Palmer
Best finish in 2015-16 season: T13 at the Sony Open in HawaiiReason to watch: With as often as he's in contention, it's hard to believe that Palmer hasn't collected a PGA Tour victory since the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii. Alas, that's life on the PGA Tour. TPC Scottsdale is a place where Palmer has tallied three top-10 finishes -- two of those of the runner-up variety, including a year ago. He seems to feed off the crowd well, which is an absolute must at the frat-party that is the Waste Management Phoenix Open. If the putter can get hot for Palmer, look out.

3. Bubba Watson
Best finish in 2015-16 season: T10 at the Hyundai Tournament of ChampionsReason to watch: In his last four starts at TPC Scottsdale, Watson has finished no worse than a tie for 15th. That includes being the runner up in the last two straight. Over the last 12 months, few players in the game have been as consistently good as Watson. He always seems to be sniffing the first page of the leaderboard no matter where he plays. It's hard to imagine that would be any different this week in Phoenix on a course where he's proven he's exceptionally comfortable.

2. Brooks Koepka
Best finish in 2015-16 season: T3 at the Hyundai Tournament of ChampionsReason to watch: Koepka made his first start in the Waste Management Phoenix Open a year ago... and won. As the defending champ and as won of the game's brightest rising stars, it would be silly not to include Koepka as a favorite this week. With the new season, Koepka has also undergone an equipment change. That can be a big deal for a lot of players. But, in his first and only start so far with the new sticks, Koepka had that T3 in Maui, which had to give him a confidence boost. Having not played since then -- nearly an entire month -- one would assume he's had plenty of time to get even more comfortable with the new gear.

1. J.B. Holmes
Best finish in 2015-16 season: T6 at the Farmers Insurance OpenReason to watch: It's funny what you find sometimes when you go looking at a player's record at a certain venue/tournament. That's the case at TPC Scottsdale in the Waste Management Phoenix Open for Holmes where it has been an absolute feast (he's won twice there) or famine (a few missed cuts and a bunch of T43 or worse finishes). Coming off the heels of his best finish this season at Torrey Pines, I'm going to lean toward a feast for Holmes this week in Phoenix. That T6 last week moved Holmes up to No. 12 on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list and he'd love to get to Hazeltine. In his only Ryder Cup start at Valhalla in 2008, Holmes went 2-0-1. That was the last U.S. victory.

SLEEPER PICK: Jamie Lovemark
Reason to watch: Once considered to be a future star of the PGA Tour, Lovemark has been derailed by injury. The 28-year-old is showing some of that once serious promise early on this season with three top-10 finishes in his last four starts. Is a win right around the corner? The first-time winner-friendly Waste Management Phoenix Open wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Stewart Cink whooped it up with the crowd after making a 94-foot putt during the Georgia Tech basketball game Tuesday night.

Just the other day, we saw Stewart Cink show off his driving skills – as a chauffeur. At Torrey Pines last week, he moonlighted for a little bit as a golf cart shuttle driver, much to the delight of his surprised passengers.

On Tuesday night, Cink was back home in Atlanta, where he showed off his putting skills – at halftime of the Duke-Georgia Tech basketball game. As part of a promotion, Cink set a golf ball down on one end of the court and tried to putt it through a small cutout in a sign at the other baseline – 94 feet away.

Cink, a former Yellow Jacket golf standout, is well known for his putting prowess, but this was a tall order – especially since the crowd at McCamish Pavilion was definitely a few decibels rowdier than your basic PGA Tour gallery. No matter, though – Cink gave it a rap, and the ball rolled … and rolled … and rolled … then banged off the side of the cutout and charged right though, prompting a huge celebration in the arena.

Cink's putt earned a cool $25,000 for a Georgia Tech student, who no doubt instantly became the world's biggest Stewart Cink fan. As for Cink, it looks like he's found a new favorite putting ball, so it's a win-win all the way around.